I lived in Italy for 15 years where I worked on the organic olive growths surrounding the house to promote organic farming. I love Italy very much, but life has brought me via Denmark to France, where I am now living with my Danish wife and 3 children. I am interested in wildlife and working on the land as well as travelling and exploring new cultures.

Great for an Italian countryside getaway, perfectly located on the border between Umbria and Tuscany but away from the more touristy towns. This was a great base for exploring this amazing area. The house was definitely on the rustic side and if you are squeamish around creepy crawly critters it might not be for you.
If you do stay in the cottage, definitely eat at nearby Il Casale (which Rowan recommended). It has a beautiful view of the area and it was the best meal of our trip!

We had a great stay in Rowan's cottage. We stayed for six nights and had everything we needed, even a washing machine. The furniture is not the newest of the newest, but it gave the cottage a cosy vibe. The cottage is beautifully located just outside the cute village of Paciano. Paciano is a very small medieval town with for instance no supermarket, but with a couple of great traditional restaurants. We visited the beautiful little towns of Orvietto, Castiglione di Lago, Spello and Monte Falco from here. Very well situated for day trips by car.
Beware of mosquitoes around the house! Bring a really good insect repellent with you, at least in august. It's a good thing that there is a mosquito net above the bed.
With no WiFi and it's wonderful quiet surroundings, it's the perfect place to relax. And for some old school fun you can watch old VHS-movies :-) Thanks Rowan for letting us stay!

The place was exactly how thoroughly explained in the description...perfect. Perhaps even larger than expected!
We and our little baby have spent a wonderful week over there.
The mosquitoes were wild but it's their territory so... fair enough. The Trasimeno lake is a great spot if you want to alternate visits to wonderful towns (Assisi is amazing!) with a bit of action (i.e swimming, water sports etc.) or with some entertainment for your kid(s).
Five stars!

Our stay in Rowans house was great. The house is set in beautiful and quiet surroundings with a great view over the olivetrees and Lake Trasimeno in the distance.
We enjoyed the privacy and at the same time we were able to walk to town in 10 minuts and drive to many nice places in a short time.
The house is restored beautifully and has everything you need, and Rowan was very helpfulll and easy to reach.
Its a great place to relax and enjoy beautiful Umbria.
We would stay again - thank you Rowan

The cottage is located in an olive grove, remote save for the nearby house
- quite as a ghost. It provides a great base for visiting sites in both
Umbria and Tuscany. We had a lovely stay and thoroughly enjoyed the area
however a little tlc both internally and within the grounds and to the
access track would be most beneficial. Thank you Rowan.

Reviews From Hosts

References
(6)

I have known Rowan since we were at school together and have also known Matilde for a number of years now. They are both very kind and thoughtful people as well as very artistic and creative. I have worked with Rowan on many occasions over the years and I have always been impressed with the huge dedication and hard work he puts to what ever he is doing to ensure it is completed and to a high standard. He has great skill in working with wood with a very original mind which shows in what he creates. This can be seen in particular with the house here which has a totally unique, relaxed and artisan feel to it. It is a real joy to stay there and with it’s olive grove surroundings and tucked away position, makes you feel like you can step off the world for a while. I highly recommend it. – Guy.

Rowan is my Uncle and his house in Paciano has provided me with many fond memories growing up. We were incredibly lucky that Rowan built this house to such a high standard, as we have loved staying in it ever since. The house is in such a beautiful location to travel to and as a family we enjoy the tranquility of the house and its surrounding area being so close to nature. I have since been back with friends as i just couldn't wait to show them the heart of a untouched Italian friendly village. Rowan is a very considerate person who takes into account the practicalities of the house and its functions for various people, which all in all has resulted in a peaceful and relaxing stay many times over. Rowan showed us many locations to visit surround Paciano and is always happy to recommend and give his advice on the surrounding activities/restaurants. I would happily with no hesitation recommend both the House and Rowan.

I know both Matilde and Rowan from way back… from last century
I went to highschool with Matilde.
My family and I have spent several weeks in the house, with our two small girls. We’ve been in the house both spring, fall and at Christmas, and every time has it given us a warm and cozy getaway. We have enjoyed the easy living that the house invites to, with its thoroughly and gentle renovated interior.
Every time we visited the house things have went well and we could get all the informations we needed from Rowan or from his friends in Paciano.
We can only give the best recommendations.
Although exploiting the surrounding olive ground, catching lizards and finding spikes from porcupines, would have been plenty of adventure for our girls. We have also used the house, as base for many daytrips to both Umbrians and Tuscans sights as it lay in a truly cultural hotspot.
The nearby village, Pachino, offers all day-to-day necessities and have a couple of good restaurants. We’re sure that anyone will enjoy the hospitality of Rowan and Matilde and have a memorable stay.

I know Rowan through his wife Mathilde. Mathilde and I worked at the same school. She told me about the house in Paciano, and we decided to go there. We went to Rowan and Mathilde to talk about it, and found that Rowan is a nice and honest person,- just like his wife!!
We have enjoyed staying in their wonderful little house in Paciano. The area is beautiful, Paciano is a nice town with friendly people, and when you have a car, it is possible to drive to neighbouring towns. If you want to go further, take the train to Rome or Firenze. It is only an hour away.
We have been in Rowans house twice, and we would definitely like to go there another time.
The house and the interiors are authentic. Surroundings in the olive grove is beautiful,lizards puttering in vines and cicadas singing. We highly recommend this place.
Marianne Holm is a friend

I have known Rowan for over 40 years he use to be a neighbour of my Grandfather. He shares a passion for the natural world and very keen in Natural History. This drives his approach to life and living and is reflected in the home he created in the beautiful hills behind the medieval town of Paciano in Umbria. He rebuilt the house from a pile of rubble using his artisan skills of woodworking and building to create a rustic, secluded dwelling on an organic olive farm. I have spent many holidays in the house in Winter, Autumn, Summer and Spring over the last 20 years and each season brings another experience to the house be it frogs calling during mating in the spring the beautiful oranges and reds from the leaves of the trees in the valley in Autumn the star filled sky's in the clear winter sky's or the red poppys or fire flys in the spring. It is a place just to laze and relax, or walk around the farm and enjoy the nature or use as a base to see Umbria and Tuscany ideally located to reach most large towns or just go and swim and laze by Lake Trasimeno.
I have always found Rowan to be friendly, kind, generous, honest and very hard working we have picked many tons of olives together to make beautiful olive oil, drank wine, beer and gone to the local trattoria for pizza even resurrected his abandoned Renault 4 that had not been driven for 10 years in whim whilst picking olives. I have no hesitation in recommending Rowan as a host, as a traveler as a friend or someone to share an afternoon in the shade of his grapevines outside his house drinking wine, eating bruschetta and discussing how to put the world to rights.
Prof Keith Stone

I know Rowan from many years back and have enjoyed his company and hospitality in Umbria many times. We live close to each other on the Island of Bornholm in Denmark and both have kids the same age. We have spent a lot of time together and always a joy. He and his family are really nice and decent folks and we love to visit them and their really nice house in Umbria. Rowan and his wife are really skilled at making house interior and surroundings nice and relaxing and are impassioned with the nature and wildlife sounding they beautiful Umbria house. I highly recommend using the facilities Rowan put up for rent on AirBnB and can assure a fair and reliable landlord